Post by dunderhead on Jan 2, 2009 9:58:03 GMT -5
Characters:
Takata, female red fox
Inali, female red fox
Harper, male red fox
Follows: A Little Late to the Party (three days later)
Precedes: "I don't think she cares too much."
Synopsis: Cont. Inali and Takata's story arch during the flood. Harper walks in on Takata and Inali talking out of his den. Inali wants to make up for things she's said, much to the disturbance and annoyance of Harper. Inali had been feeling better so they leave. Harper wallows in his own self-pity. Poor guy. (Whatever happens, this will probably be my last post in the TP thread for Inali. Thanks for the TP, guys!)
--- Old Chestnut Tree ---
It has been now four days since her little meet up with Harper and the anoying bird and now she was feeling better, more thought out. Less paniced, even though she felt less paniced she still was nervious as she creeped up to the tree. The last time she was here she was screamed at to elave, so this time she silently creeps up listening into the hole. What she hopes to hear is a sleeping male and if shes reallly lucky the sound of a awakened vixen. She was hoping by now that Inali was well enough to coem otu and atleast talk to her. She really needed to talk..
Instead, the red vixen hears no sounds at all coming from the den. Not a sleeping male, or a waking Inali, or even a sleeping Inali. Because Inali was, in fact, feeling better, enough so to leave the den for an extended period, the first time in weeks she has wandered outside. She wouldn't have Harper know about it -- Harper would have stopped her, or gone along with her. So she snuck out when Harper had gone to fetch them both some lunch. And Inali had left for the express purpose of finding Takata. She walks miserably back to the hole under the gnarled oak roots, her searching in vain. She wanted to get back before Harper did, because he certainly would have searched for her and probably yelled at her when he found her. It is to Inali's delight, then, that she sees Takata beside the oak tree.
Takata feels quite dejected when she hears nothing in the tree. Must have already headed off, she thinks her heart weighing heavily as she slowly backs away from the hole and turns to head back to the east. She figured if Inali has ran off perhaps she had went off to track her down, and if so.. to the east is where she would head as she starts to pad forward. She hasn't yet seen Inali her tail slumped in sadness.
Inali sniffles happily as she sees Takata here. She is sure that she had hurt Takata's feelings... it's something that weighed heavily on Inali all those four days. She had tried to tell three different foxes to apologize for Inali if they say Takata, but all of them had ran off before she got a chance to. A lot of that burden lifts off of Inali's shoulders right away went as she saw Takata. She sneaks up to the fox craftily and wiggles her butt before giving Takata a playful pounce. "You've come for me!" It's funny; Inali was never particularly playful, either, before she had met Takata. She seems to have awaken a lot of things inside of her she had lost or never knew she had.
Takata acks as she is suddenly pounced and gets ready to snap her jaws when she hears the words then wiggles under her to stare up and smiles gently. "You look much better" She says wiggling under the vixen as she murrs gently. "Has that fox been treating you well? keeping you happy and healthy? She asks couriously. She gazes up seeming much calmer then she has been for the whole time Inali has been sick.
"Uh huh," she nods and gives Takata a lick on the nose. "Harper, he, well, if he even came back and I wasn't there he'd go to the ends of the Earth to find me, probably." She chuckles and rolls off Takata. "He's even been surprisingly good company, lately. But..." Inali trails off as she paces around the fox, and sits down coiling her tail around her legs. "I missed you. Where did you go for four days?"
Takata shakes her head gently as she smiles. "I was about.. visted the riover.. it seems to have gone back down a bit... just really went out to gather my thoughts, i knew you were in good paws" She says gently waggling her tail about a bit before she sits back. "That does get me to a point id like to make..." She says gazing over at Inali.
Inali nods and looks down. She figured Takata would like to talk about... about what Inali said. Normally, she would immediately give her some excuse. But for once she stays quiet and nods softly, waiting for Takata to speak her mind.
Maybe not *all* the way to the ends. But he'd come close, sure. The fox likes to entertain guests that he actually does feel like having in his home, and he does like being noble and loyal to friends he already has. So it would explain why he's coming back with a (somewhat skinny) rabbit, not even half eaten yet (more like a quarter). Now mind you, sharing isn't something he's fond of either, but his strange code of hospitality says he should at the very least not let friends starve. And, tentatively, Inali has been put onto that list of friends. Takata was not. So he's a little surprised to find her again when he breaks cover, approaching much more tentatively, as opposed to the enthusiastic skip in his step he had before, from the joy of a successful hunt.
Takata nuzzles into Inali gently as she gives off a warm murr. "Thank you for sharing your den with me." She says gazing up at her. "I knew.. in my heart of hearts that we truely wernt mates, simply denmates. " She says gazing over her. "I think- " She then freezes up as she hears the sound of bushes rustling and the sight of Harper moving forward. They were a few yard away from the den so, she thankfully didn't feel as if she was invading his personal space. But what she wanted to say now seems lsot for the moment.
Inali's heart sinks a little as Takata says this. Not a real mate? Alright, their relationship was a little... complex. But she wants -- really really wants to provide Takata with everything she needs to not be lonely. In mid thought herself, Inali sees Takata freeze and turns her head as well. She gapes a little seeing Harper walk by with a rabbit in his maw. Her eyes shift; at first, she is at an absolute loss. But, as if in some desperate attempt to show Takata she was truly sorry for what she had said in front of Harper -- acting as if their relationship meant nothing -- she turns around stoutly and wraps her paws around Takata's frame, folds her ears back, slurps over Takata's lips in a deep kiss.
Thud. That's the sound of the rabbit dropping out of Harper's mouth, which also tries to dislocate from how far it dropped. His expression is a mixture of disgust and confusion, but other than that he doesn't react very much. Except stare. A lot. In complete silence. Also in total silence, he bends down very slowly, eyes narrowed as though he were confronting a pair of co-conspirators in some evil plot, picks up the rabbit, and walks slowly towards his den, eyeing the other two. Obviously it doesn't seem like *he's* needed anymore. He doesn't even know why he bothered. Why do people insist on doing things in front of his tree? Oh well. If they're gonna go be 'mates' like they said... more food for him!
Takata blinks and her own heart sinks a bit more as she sees Inali's features grow sad. She hadn't meant for this to be something sad.. she just meant for ti to be a fact. She is about to talk again when suddenly Inali does this and her eyes grow wide and shudders a little as she then kisses back gently letting out a gentle murr. Yet as she sees Harper drop the Rabbit then pick it back up and grumpily head twords his den. She breaks the kiss and frowns. "I... i think you just lost you place to stayw tih that" She whispers frownign a bit worry returning. How healthy was Inali now? She didn't really know.
Inali turns back to eye Harper at his disapproval. She figured he would disapprove. But Inali needed to tell Takata she was sorry somehow, and in a way, she thought Harper might appreciate a quick kiss in front of his den than a lengthy conversation about how sorry she was. Inali turns back to Takata. "No regrets," she says with a smile, and then turns around again, making her way toward Harper. She lays down when she speaks to him. "Harper. I'm sorry." Over the past few days she has spoken with certain uncertainty. But she seems to have regained some sense of confidence about her. "I hope next time we meet, I can do something for you for a change." She gets up and chuckles, turning around again to slowly pad toward Takata. "I honestly think I've spared you a headache inducing conversation with that. Goodbye, and thanks." She isn't sure if she ever even thanked Harper when he went to 'save' her from that cougar, at least so earnestly. She might not be -entirely- well, but she feels it is a good time to try to find her own place at last."
Harper stops halfway into the den. He doesn't look back at Inali when she speaks, and rolls his eyes when she apologizes, either not noticing or ignoring whatever change has come over her. He can only see that she's leaving as quickly as she dropped in. *Again.* Off to be happy now that she no longer needs him. He should have just kicked her out like everyone else. She did get over her 'sickness' surprisingly quickly. Halfwy through her goodbye, he's already down into the den, spitting the rabbit out and now in a fine temper as he drops onto his stomach. He had caught it just for *her.* But all he gets is a goodbye. He doesn't say anything until he's sure they're both out of earshot. "I didn't mind your headaches," he mutters. "Well... not till now at least." The dead rabbit just stares at him.
Takata notices the cold way Harper jsut disapears and with a sigh she nuzzles into Inali. "Let' go" She says in a gentle tone. Harperfrom what she could tell was honestly just quite the issed off little fox. She was gratefull to him, but she didn't exactly like him too much. She then sighs as she moves to pad twords the east what she was going to say all forgoteen. "I will stay with you for a little while longer.." She says gently to Inali her mind and heart buzzing with confusion. She dosn't finish her last part of the statement almost completly confused right now.
Inali does notice Harper's coldness as well. He was honestly nice to her when she was in the den, sick. He forgave her quickly. She was happy for that. Her ears fold back when she doesn't hear anything so much as a goodbye from him as she walks away. Maybe it was -because- she was sick? Maybe the fox is only actually ever happy protecting someone? She doesn't know. Next time she sees him, she'll have to do something nice for him. She doesn't know what that would would be, though. She heaves a sigh, and walks off with Takata. She looks up at Takata even more concerned when she says that, but, she is afraid of offending Harper further if she does not get quickly away, and waits until she is a safe distant to ask Takata what she means.
--- Maple Glade ---
Takata nuzzles into inali quietly as they walk. Inali is smart so she has no doubt her comment about for now has been picked up. She also figured that Inali was waiting till they were well away from the Tree. She was going to let the lovley young vixen decide when it was safe now, her tail gently wagging as they walk.
Inali honestly kept walking long past when they were at a safe distance from the tree, dreading what Takata might say and fearing that she had really upset Harper. She had really wanted to leave just so that she could stay out of his increasingly fizzled fur. Maybe he was mad at her because he was losing her company? Or did he really truly believe that she didn't appreciate what he was doing for her? At long last Inali stops and sits down, but doesn't turn back to look at Takata. "You were saying...?" she asks softly, eyes downcast at the dark ground.
Takata stops besideher and slowly sits down. Her gaze is gentle as she looks over at Inali. "But as I was clearing my thoughts I started thinking about you." She says trying to gain her eye contact. "Why is it that you allowed me to stay in your den? Was it out of caring? Or more a feeling of needing to not cause another scene like Jarmon?" She then sits awaiting the answer. "I am thinking of striking out on my own, or finding another elder vixen to have a den with, that was I can still be around but ther eis plenty of room in your den for.. oooh I dont know perhaps a vixen or male that is a little more around your age.." She watches, she is fully prepared to chase her if Inali has a sudden feeling of charging off due to emotions..
Inali finally turns her head and stares blankly at Takata. She doesn't know exactly what she is hearing. Is Takata... breaking it off with her? "Huh? What do you mean?" Inali is clearly confused. "I don't understand..." Sure, alright, she -was- thinking Harper some when she said her goodbyes. But she was also and more especially thinking of Takata. "Look, I didn't mean what I said back there. I'm..." she sighs. For some reason, it is harder to apologize to Takata than it was to apologize to Harper. "I'm sorry."
Takata sighs at this and moves in to give Inali a gentle nuzzle. "I am going to tell you I am not Jarmon.. I have not intentions of going off and dieing.. what I do intend to do is what I can do to make you happy. " She says with a sigh. "I feel that having me around... is jsut holding you back.. keeping you from finding a fox which you can spend your days with.. afterall I won't be around much longer.." She says this las tpart with a sigh.
Inali looks at Takata sternly. "And I have no intention of leaving you until that day comes." She turns around and starts walking forward again. "This has nothing to do with Jarmon." Well, both of their fates were oddly tied with the old deceased cougar. But Inali had honestly moved on from Jarmon's death, perhaps even moreso than Takata. She just... didn't want to repeat past mistakes.
Takata sighs and nods as she slwoly takes to ehr feet too nuzzling into her. "Well if you ever do feel like you need more space.. A kind old vixen has offered to take me in... I rally just don't want to see you unhappily putting up with a old vixen like me" She says as they walk her staring at the ground. "I want you to be happy.."
Inali stops and looks at Takata sadly. A... another older vixen? Is this about her? "Huh?" She looks at Takata as if she is almost heartbroken. Was all this talk because Takata had found someone better?
Takata blinks and stares at Inali as if picking up her thoughts. "No! No! no! not like that! I was refering to that just so you wouldn't worry about me being alone." She comments licking over her ear. "I love you I jsut want you to be happy... that Is the only thing important to me." She says giving a gentle smile.
"Oh," she says and sits back down, smiling softly back as she nuzzles into Takata. "But I worry about me being alone." She gives Takata a gentle little lap over her muzzle. "Takata, I want to be with you for the rest of your life. Or my life, if that's the case." She chuckles softly. "Let's find some place to sleep," and she gets back up, heading in the same direction.
--- Willow Thicket ---
Takata sighs gently and nods at this as she cuddles up. "Alright my dear you lead the way" She says then nuzzling up to her. "I gusse I will have to go and tell Nova that she will be on her own for now" She says with a little sigh feeling bad about Nova. She was a kind vixen. "I'll have to introduce her to you shes a kind vixen" She says with a smile.
Inali looks back at Takata, feeling kind of sorry that Takata might have already told another old vixen that she might have some company. But she put this concern to the back of her mind. She would like at least one night alone with Takata, nuzzling softly back. She remembers there being a thicket near here with enough cover for them to cuddle in for the night. When the trees finally clear she looks about. "Maybe we should stay here?" She looks brightly over to Takata.
Takata gently smiles twords Inali as she finds the place. "This would work.." She says then giving off a small sigh. "You think we can find another den?" she asks out to her couriously as she slowly sits down looking about.
Inali continues to walk for a little, finding a little bushel of thicket that they can hide their little bodies, and lays down. "Yeah, we will," she says nuzzling into her paws sleepily. She wouldn't tell Takata, but she had a bit of a headache again. "Eventually." She yawns. "Maybe we will even crash at your friend's for a while?" The black vixen gives off a little chuckle.
Takata pads over then curls into the othe vixen gently. "Well her den was washed away in the flood too, so wed have to make it for her i think before we could crash it" She says as she gently licks Inali's ear. She gives off a gentle murr and starts to groom over Inali's head. "mmm such a sweet vixen"
Inali misses this. Harper never got so close to Inali as a tail's length. Inali nuzzles back, giving Takata's paw a soft licking, curling gently against her warm body. Warmth wasn't any concern in the early summer, but it still felt nice to have Takata so close again.
Takata murrs gently as she then gently nuzzles into inali's neck and murrs gently. "Well sleep well my dear" She whispers cuddling in to the vixen gently breahing over her loves muzzle using her four legs to wrap around the vixen.
Inali happily plants her muzzle into Takata's neck and breathes a sigh of relief that everything is okay, and might go back to normal... as long as they can find a den. But worries slowly drift away, as does her consciousness as she slowly and easily drifts into sleep.
Takata gently cuddles into her and then slowly she slips into unconsciousness. They could figure out there problems tomarow... for now.. there was nothing wrong.. there was just this warm mass she now had back. murrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzz
--- Harper's RP after we left, featuring Gabriel the Kingfisher ---
Harper soon notices the rabbit just staring with dead eyes. "Well what are *you* looking at?" he asks, batting the limp head away. He honestly doesn't believe he'll see *any* of those foxes again. Which is just fine with him. They came, they annoyed, they left. Just like all the others. Why even bother being nice if they're just going to spring off with a smile on their face? Had she just used his den as shelter from the heat of all the other trouble she'd been in? He was just a wall she could hide behind? Feh. If there is a next time, he'll tell her to shove off like he should have in the first place. He begins gnawing ruefully on the rabbit.
Motionless and soundless, a dark little bird such as Gabriel finds no problem being undetected in the shadows of a thick, nearby tree. As foxes named Inali and Takata make their quiet leave, Gabriel hops out of the tree's coverage and out onto an exposed portion of branch. She waits another period of time until the couple are completely gone before she flaps her wings and flies in an ungraceful arc to the ground before the tree, before the den. Gabe bounces in slowly, hop by hop. She's still welcome in the den, right? Making her way over towards Harper's head (but making sure she didn't look at the rabbit), she stands back a moderate distance. Safe would definately not be the correct word *inside* a den with an angry fox. "You poor thing..." Gaberiel feels quite as Harper does, save for some rage and anger, but equal in regret and sorrow. That's all she feels she can say. The birdie knows full well that she can get on the fox's nerves sometimes, but she sincerely hopes now is not one of those times.
The sounds of grappling with meat and tendon reverberate from within the den as Harper vents his frustration on the fortunately very dead rabbit. It seems everyone he wants to help either leaves or simply doesn't appreciate what he did for them. Stupid foxes. Always the foxes... they never stay. Neither does anyone else, it seems. Where's Gabe? Off flying with other feathered friends? He doesn't hear her over his own angry thoughts. It's only when he's finished eating and he's dragging the bones out that he notices her, and stops, his muzzle covered in blood. Had she been watching? Oh, he must have looked like a barbarian...
A barbarian sure, but angry rightfully so. The whole eating process of Harper, Gabe has learned to ignore. However this time, actually *eating* in anger and frustration was hard not to watch. It sickened the bird slightly, but not noticeably. "I'm not going to ask how you are, cutie, but I'll listen if you wanna tell me."
Harper stares in silence for a few moments, and then sighs and goes back to pushing the bones out of his den and throwing them into the nearby trees. Afterwards, he drops down onto his stomach in front of Gabe, having cleaned himself up a little. He sighs and swishes his tail, and then speaks in a slow, quiet voice. "Gabe... when you aren't... hanging around here... do you ever go and talk to other birds?"
Gabriel trusts Harper entirely, in any state of his emotion. As a result, she doesn't move when his slightly blooded muzzle drops to her level and warms her chest with it's exhale. "Of course," It doesn't come out very often, but Gabriel thas a very soft voice and gentle, understand tone as she speaks. "it's what... it's just what we do. But I enjoy 'hanging around here' and talking with you more." She smiles.
Harper doesn't seem to give any indication as to what he thinks about that. He looks skyward, as if expecting to see some more birds up there now. None. Good. He looks back to Gabe. "I don't really talk to other foxes much," he says, and for the first time in a while, he sounds rather regretful about it.
This poor fox... Sionn, Inali, Gabriel is unsure of any others. Gabriel isn't sure what to say about Harper's regret. She can only offer herself for company, but she knows this isn't completely adequate. "Well... Do you want to?"
Harper pages, "Harper shakes his head. "No," he says simply. "What's the point? None of them ever want to be friends, anyway. Not that I *need* friends." He gets up and paces a little back and forth, pawing nervously at the ground. "Gabe, do you... do you want... do you want to know why I don't... *like* other foxes?" he asks cautiously. "I mean it's... it's not like I'm crazy or something. I just... I don't like them."" to you.
"I know you're not crazy, baby!" Gabriel doesn't mind or think much of Harper's pacing. She understands his position, though he doesn't understand why he doesn't like other foxes, as he says. "You just don't always relate to their playful manner... right? I love you just as you are, cutie~" She does attempt to lighten the mood slightly to help the fox relax.
Harper nods slowly. "Yeah, yeah," he says, not sounding very reassured, but he does manage to smile, if only a tiny bit. "I... I'm not very playful, no," he says. But he sounds like he wants to explain himself, to somebody at least. And Gabe is the only one around. "Neither are they, as you can see. I just... I haven't had good experiences with other creatures," he finishes quickly. "I know a lot of them out there *don't* appreciate what you are. Just take it for granted. I haven't met any creatures who have done otherwise. Out of all the dens to pick, she picked mine!" he says loudly, pacing quicker. "And all this time she had someone else to go run home to. But *I* had a place to hide. I guess I should be happy I could provide, but... huh. Now everyone's gone. 'Cept you, of course." He looks to Gabe with a surprising amount of vulnerability. He has slowly gotten used to her just *being* there. "You aren't going anywhere, are you?"
Slowly shakes her head, but is getting more and more uneasy from Harper's pacing. "Harper, even if I didn't have a place to stay in winter I wouldn't go anywhere without you." She smiles and fans both of her pretty wings out. Why? Who knows, it's a bird thing. Gabe can only comprehend bits of what her foxy companion is trying to convey. "Just because you haven't had good experiences doesn't mean you can't go out there and go have some now, right? If one place doesn't suit you, spread your wings and go somewhere else!" Her enthusiasm is quite imposing. "Let's go on an adventure or something!"
Now it's Harper's turn to be a little confused. He stops and turns back to the bird, blinking slowly. Have more experiences? That's what keeps getting him in trouble in the first place! But... well. It was sure to get boring here. Perhaps, if they didn't go too far, just explored some of the flooded areas... and came back before Inali could steal the place again, or whoever fancied it. "Adventure," he repeats. "Hmm... well... if you want one of those, you need a direction first. What do you suggest?"
Gabriel shrugs her wings, losing a bit of her earlier spark. "The flooded river is kinda neat. It's so fast now... It might be dangerous for you. And sorta far, if you don't want to leave our tree." Now that others aren't listening, she refers to the tree and the home as 'our' and 'us' rather than 'mine' or 'I'. Gabe honestly doesn't have much of an idea to go off of other than that. "I just want to see you happy, cutie, we can stay right here if you want." The way she says it is almost a plea. Maybe she is a bit more stressed than she allows herself to appear.
Harper nods slowly, wondering what would be a good idea and what wouldn't be. Does he want to leave? Not really. It's their home. But if they don't leave, the others might come back and bother him again. And they might take their home while they're away. Still... "I suppose..." He takes a deep breath. "I suppose a little walk would be nice. Just to see what happens."
Gabriel sings a quick tune to express happiness. "Just to see what happens." She confirms. Of course she doesn't mean now, she means soon, eventually, within a few days. "It'll help clear your head, then we'll decide what we want to do from there, cutie~" Gabriel is clearly pleased by this, and sincerely hopes Harper will be to. "I want to ask you now... How are you doing?" The question that means a lot, minutes ago she said she wasn't going to ask, but here she is asking. The mood has changed, perhaps Harper feels the same way.
Perhaps the general atmosphere is different, but he doesn't feel much more different. He is pleased that eventually they'll be off and away, with their thoughts on better things. But for now, well... she did ask. "Not very well." He sighs and watches the place Inali left through. "But I'll get over it. I guess I just have myself to blame."
Takata, female red fox
Inali, female red fox
Harper, male red fox
Follows: A Little Late to the Party (three days later)
Precedes: "I don't think she cares too much."
Synopsis: Cont. Inali and Takata's story arch during the flood. Harper walks in on Takata and Inali talking out of his den. Inali wants to make up for things she's said, much to the disturbance and annoyance of Harper. Inali had been feeling better so they leave. Harper wallows in his own self-pity. Poor guy. (Whatever happens, this will probably be my last post in the TP thread for Inali. Thanks for the TP, guys!)
--- Old Chestnut Tree ---
It has been now four days since her little meet up with Harper and the anoying bird and now she was feeling better, more thought out. Less paniced, even though she felt less paniced she still was nervious as she creeped up to the tree. The last time she was here she was screamed at to elave, so this time she silently creeps up listening into the hole. What she hopes to hear is a sleeping male and if shes reallly lucky the sound of a awakened vixen. She was hoping by now that Inali was well enough to coem otu and atleast talk to her. She really needed to talk..
Instead, the red vixen hears no sounds at all coming from the den. Not a sleeping male, or a waking Inali, or even a sleeping Inali. Because Inali was, in fact, feeling better, enough so to leave the den for an extended period, the first time in weeks she has wandered outside. She wouldn't have Harper know about it -- Harper would have stopped her, or gone along with her. So she snuck out when Harper had gone to fetch them both some lunch. And Inali had left for the express purpose of finding Takata. She walks miserably back to the hole under the gnarled oak roots, her searching in vain. She wanted to get back before Harper did, because he certainly would have searched for her and probably yelled at her when he found her. It is to Inali's delight, then, that she sees Takata beside the oak tree.
Takata feels quite dejected when she hears nothing in the tree. Must have already headed off, she thinks her heart weighing heavily as she slowly backs away from the hole and turns to head back to the east. She figured if Inali has ran off perhaps she had went off to track her down, and if so.. to the east is where she would head as she starts to pad forward. She hasn't yet seen Inali her tail slumped in sadness.
Inali sniffles happily as she sees Takata here. She is sure that she had hurt Takata's feelings... it's something that weighed heavily on Inali all those four days. She had tried to tell three different foxes to apologize for Inali if they say Takata, but all of them had ran off before she got a chance to. A lot of that burden lifts off of Inali's shoulders right away went as she saw Takata. She sneaks up to the fox craftily and wiggles her butt before giving Takata a playful pounce. "You've come for me!" It's funny; Inali was never particularly playful, either, before she had met Takata. She seems to have awaken a lot of things inside of her she had lost or never knew she had.
Takata acks as she is suddenly pounced and gets ready to snap her jaws when she hears the words then wiggles under her to stare up and smiles gently. "You look much better" She says wiggling under the vixen as she murrs gently. "Has that fox been treating you well? keeping you happy and healthy? She asks couriously. She gazes up seeming much calmer then she has been for the whole time Inali has been sick.
"Uh huh," she nods and gives Takata a lick on the nose. "Harper, he, well, if he even came back and I wasn't there he'd go to the ends of the Earth to find me, probably." She chuckles and rolls off Takata. "He's even been surprisingly good company, lately. But..." Inali trails off as she paces around the fox, and sits down coiling her tail around her legs. "I missed you. Where did you go for four days?"
Takata shakes her head gently as she smiles. "I was about.. visted the riover.. it seems to have gone back down a bit... just really went out to gather my thoughts, i knew you were in good paws" She says gently waggling her tail about a bit before she sits back. "That does get me to a point id like to make..." She says gazing over at Inali.
Inali nods and looks down. She figured Takata would like to talk about... about what Inali said. Normally, she would immediately give her some excuse. But for once she stays quiet and nods softly, waiting for Takata to speak her mind.
Maybe not *all* the way to the ends. But he'd come close, sure. The fox likes to entertain guests that he actually does feel like having in his home, and he does like being noble and loyal to friends he already has. So it would explain why he's coming back with a (somewhat skinny) rabbit, not even half eaten yet (more like a quarter). Now mind you, sharing isn't something he's fond of either, but his strange code of hospitality says he should at the very least not let friends starve. And, tentatively, Inali has been put onto that list of friends. Takata was not. So he's a little surprised to find her again when he breaks cover, approaching much more tentatively, as opposed to the enthusiastic skip in his step he had before, from the joy of a successful hunt.
Takata nuzzles into Inali gently as she gives off a warm murr. "Thank you for sharing your den with me." She says gazing up at her. "I knew.. in my heart of hearts that we truely wernt mates, simply denmates. " She says gazing over her. "I think- " She then freezes up as she hears the sound of bushes rustling and the sight of Harper moving forward. They were a few yard away from the den so, she thankfully didn't feel as if she was invading his personal space. But what she wanted to say now seems lsot for the moment.
Inali's heart sinks a little as Takata says this. Not a real mate? Alright, their relationship was a little... complex. But she wants -- really really wants to provide Takata with everything she needs to not be lonely. In mid thought herself, Inali sees Takata freeze and turns her head as well. She gapes a little seeing Harper walk by with a rabbit in his maw. Her eyes shift; at first, she is at an absolute loss. But, as if in some desperate attempt to show Takata she was truly sorry for what she had said in front of Harper -- acting as if their relationship meant nothing -- she turns around stoutly and wraps her paws around Takata's frame, folds her ears back, slurps over Takata's lips in a deep kiss.
Thud. That's the sound of the rabbit dropping out of Harper's mouth, which also tries to dislocate from how far it dropped. His expression is a mixture of disgust and confusion, but other than that he doesn't react very much. Except stare. A lot. In complete silence. Also in total silence, he bends down very slowly, eyes narrowed as though he were confronting a pair of co-conspirators in some evil plot, picks up the rabbit, and walks slowly towards his den, eyeing the other two. Obviously it doesn't seem like *he's* needed anymore. He doesn't even know why he bothered. Why do people insist on doing things in front of his tree? Oh well. If they're gonna go be 'mates' like they said... more food for him!
Takata blinks and her own heart sinks a bit more as she sees Inali's features grow sad. She hadn't meant for this to be something sad.. she just meant for ti to be a fact. She is about to talk again when suddenly Inali does this and her eyes grow wide and shudders a little as she then kisses back gently letting out a gentle murr. Yet as she sees Harper drop the Rabbit then pick it back up and grumpily head twords his den. She breaks the kiss and frowns. "I... i think you just lost you place to stayw tih that" She whispers frownign a bit worry returning. How healthy was Inali now? She didn't really know.
Inali turns back to eye Harper at his disapproval. She figured he would disapprove. But Inali needed to tell Takata she was sorry somehow, and in a way, she thought Harper might appreciate a quick kiss in front of his den than a lengthy conversation about how sorry she was. Inali turns back to Takata. "No regrets," she says with a smile, and then turns around again, making her way toward Harper. She lays down when she speaks to him. "Harper. I'm sorry." Over the past few days she has spoken with certain uncertainty. But she seems to have regained some sense of confidence about her. "I hope next time we meet, I can do something for you for a change." She gets up and chuckles, turning around again to slowly pad toward Takata. "I honestly think I've spared you a headache inducing conversation with that. Goodbye, and thanks." She isn't sure if she ever even thanked Harper when he went to 'save' her from that cougar, at least so earnestly. She might not be -entirely- well, but she feels it is a good time to try to find her own place at last."
Harper stops halfway into the den. He doesn't look back at Inali when she speaks, and rolls his eyes when she apologizes, either not noticing or ignoring whatever change has come over her. He can only see that she's leaving as quickly as she dropped in. *Again.* Off to be happy now that she no longer needs him. He should have just kicked her out like everyone else. She did get over her 'sickness' surprisingly quickly. Halfwy through her goodbye, he's already down into the den, spitting the rabbit out and now in a fine temper as he drops onto his stomach. He had caught it just for *her.* But all he gets is a goodbye. He doesn't say anything until he's sure they're both out of earshot. "I didn't mind your headaches," he mutters. "Well... not till now at least." The dead rabbit just stares at him.
Takata notices the cold way Harper jsut disapears and with a sigh she nuzzles into Inali. "Let' go" She says in a gentle tone. Harperfrom what she could tell was honestly just quite the issed off little fox. She was gratefull to him, but she didn't exactly like him too much. She then sighs as she moves to pad twords the east what she was going to say all forgoteen. "I will stay with you for a little while longer.." She says gently to Inali her mind and heart buzzing with confusion. She dosn't finish her last part of the statement almost completly confused right now.
Inali does notice Harper's coldness as well. He was honestly nice to her when she was in the den, sick. He forgave her quickly. She was happy for that. Her ears fold back when she doesn't hear anything so much as a goodbye from him as she walks away. Maybe it was -because- she was sick? Maybe the fox is only actually ever happy protecting someone? She doesn't know. Next time she sees him, she'll have to do something nice for him. She doesn't know what that would would be, though. She heaves a sigh, and walks off with Takata. She looks up at Takata even more concerned when she says that, but, she is afraid of offending Harper further if she does not get quickly away, and waits until she is a safe distant to ask Takata what she means.
--- Maple Glade ---
Takata nuzzles into inali quietly as they walk. Inali is smart so she has no doubt her comment about for now has been picked up. She also figured that Inali was waiting till they were well away from the Tree. She was going to let the lovley young vixen decide when it was safe now, her tail gently wagging as they walk.
Inali honestly kept walking long past when they were at a safe distance from the tree, dreading what Takata might say and fearing that she had really upset Harper. She had really wanted to leave just so that she could stay out of his increasingly fizzled fur. Maybe he was mad at her because he was losing her company? Or did he really truly believe that she didn't appreciate what he was doing for her? At long last Inali stops and sits down, but doesn't turn back to look at Takata. "You were saying...?" she asks softly, eyes downcast at the dark ground.
Takata stops besideher and slowly sits down. Her gaze is gentle as she looks over at Inali. "But as I was clearing my thoughts I started thinking about you." She says trying to gain her eye contact. "Why is it that you allowed me to stay in your den? Was it out of caring? Or more a feeling of needing to not cause another scene like Jarmon?" She then sits awaiting the answer. "I am thinking of striking out on my own, or finding another elder vixen to have a den with, that was I can still be around but ther eis plenty of room in your den for.. oooh I dont know perhaps a vixen or male that is a little more around your age.." She watches, she is fully prepared to chase her if Inali has a sudden feeling of charging off due to emotions..
Inali finally turns her head and stares blankly at Takata. She doesn't know exactly what she is hearing. Is Takata... breaking it off with her? "Huh? What do you mean?" Inali is clearly confused. "I don't understand..." Sure, alright, she -was- thinking Harper some when she said her goodbyes. But she was also and more especially thinking of Takata. "Look, I didn't mean what I said back there. I'm..." she sighs. For some reason, it is harder to apologize to Takata than it was to apologize to Harper. "I'm sorry."
Takata sighs at this and moves in to give Inali a gentle nuzzle. "I am going to tell you I am not Jarmon.. I have not intentions of going off and dieing.. what I do intend to do is what I can do to make you happy. " She says with a sigh. "I feel that having me around... is jsut holding you back.. keeping you from finding a fox which you can spend your days with.. afterall I won't be around much longer.." She says this las tpart with a sigh.
Inali looks at Takata sternly. "And I have no intention of leaving you until that day comes." She turns around and starts walking forward again. "This has nothing to do with Jarmon." Well, both of their fates were oddly tied with the old deceased cougar. But Inali had honestly moved on from Jarmon's death, perhaps even moreso than Takata. She just... didn't want to repeat past mistakes.
Takata sighs and nods as she slwoly takes to ehr feet too nuzzling into her. "Well if you ever do feel like you need more space.. A kind old vixen has offered to take me in... I rally just don't want to see you unhappily putting up with a old vixen like me" She says as they walk her staring at the ground. "I want you to be happy.."
Inali stops and looks at Takata sadly. A... another older vixen? Is this about her? "Huh?" She looks at Takata as if she is almost heartbroken. Was all this talk because Takata had found someone better?
Takata blinks and stares at Inali as if picking up her thoughts. "No! No! no! not like that! I was refering to that just so you wouldn't worry about me being alone." She comments licking over her ear. "I love you I jsut want you to be happy... that Is the only thing important to me." She says giving a gentle smile.
"Oh," she says and sits back down, smiling softly back as she nuzzles into Takata. "But I worry about me being alone." She gives Takata a gentle little lap over her muzzle. "Takata, I want to be with you for the rest of your life. Or my life, if that's the case." She chuckles softly. "Let's find some place to sleep," and she gets back up, heading in the same direction.
--- Willow Thicket ---
Takata sighs gently and nods at this as she cuddles up. "Alright my dear you lead the way" She says then nuzzling up to her. "I gusse I will have to go and tell Nova that she will be on her own for now" She says with a little sigh feeling bad about Nova. She was a kind vixen. "I'll have to introduce her to you shes a kind vixen" She says with a smile.
Inali looks back at Takata, feeling kind of sorry that Takata might have already told another old vixen that she might have some company. But she put this concern to the back of her mind. She would like at least one night alone with Takata, nuzzling softly back. She remembers there being a thicket near here with enough cover for them to cuddle in for the night. When the trees finally clear she looks about. "Maybe we should stay here?" She looks brightly over to Takata.
Takata gently smiles twords Inali as she finds the place. "This would work.." She says then giving off a small sigh. "You think we can find another den?" she asks out to her couriously as she slowly sits down looking about.
Inali continues to walk for a little, finding a little bushel of thicket that they can hide their little bodies, and lays down. "Yeah, we will," she says nuzzling into her paws sleepily. She wouldn't tell Takata, but she had a bit of a headache again. "Eventually." She yawns. "Maybe we will even crash at your friend's for a while?" The black vixen gives off a little chuckle.
Takata pads over then curls into the othe vixen gently. "Well her den was washed away in the flood too, so wed have to make it for her i think before we could crash it" She says as she gently licks Inali's ear. She gives off a gentle murr and starts to groom over Inali's head. "mmm such a sweet vixen"
Inali misses this. Harper never got so close to Inali as a tail's length. Inali nuzzles back, giving Takata's paw a soft licking, curling gently against her warm body. Warmth wasn't any concern in the early summer, but it still felt nice to have Takata so close again.
Takata murrs gently as she then gently nuzzles into inali's neck and murrs gently. "Well sleep well my dear" She whispers cuddling in to the vixen gently breahing over her loves muzzle using her four legs to wrap around the vixen.
Inali happily plants her muzzle into Takata's neck and breathes a sigh of relief that everything is okay, and might go back to normal... as long as they can find a den. But worries slowly drift away, as does her consciousness as she slowly and easily drifts into sleep.
Takata gently cuddles into her and then slowly she slips into unconsciousness. They could figure out there problems tomarow... for now.. there was nothing wrong.. there was just this warm mass she now had back. murrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzz
--- Harper's RP after we left, featuring Gabriel the Kingfisher ---
Harper soon notices the rabbit just staring with dead eyes. "Well what are *you* looking at?" he asks, batting the limp head away. He honestly doesn't believe he'll see *any* of those foxes again. Which is just fine with him. They came, they annoyed, they left. Just like all the others. Why even bother being nice if they're just going to spring off with a smile on their face? Had she just used his den as shelter from the heat of all the other trouble she'd been in? He was just a wall she could hide behind? Feh. If there is a next time, he'll tell her to shove off like he should have in the first place. He begins gnawing ruefully on the rabbit.
Motionless and soundless, a dark little bird such as Gabriel finds no problem being undetected in the shadows of a thick, nearby tree. As foxes named Inali and Takata make their quiet leave, Gabriel hops out of the tree's coverage and out onto an exposed portion of branch. She waits another period of time until the couple are completely gone before she flaps her wings and flies in an ungraceful arc to the ground before the tree, before the den. Gabe bounces in slowly, hop by hop. She's still welcome in the den, right? Making her way over towards Harper's head (but making sure she didn't look at the rabbit), she stands back a moderate distance. Safe would definately not be the correct word *inside* a den with an angry fox. "You poor thing..." Gaberiel feels quite as Harper does, save for some rage and anger, but equal in regret and sorrow. That's all she feels she can say. The birdie knows full well that she can get on the fox's nerves sometimes, but she sincerely hopes now is not one of those times.
The sounds of grappling with meat and tendon reverberate from within the den as Harper vents his frustration on the fortunately very dead rabbit. It seems everyone he wants to help either leaves or simply doesn't appreciate what he did for them. Stupid foxes. Always the foxes... they never stay. Neither does anyone else, it seems. Where's Gabe? Off flying with other feathered friends? He doesn't hear her over his own angry thoughts. It's only when he's finished eating and he's dragging the bones out that he notices her, and stops, his muzzle covered in blood. Had she been watching? Oh, he must have looked like a barbarian...
A barbarian sure, but angry rightfully so. The whole eating process of Harper, Gabe has learned to ignore. However this time, actually *eating* in anger and frustration was hard not to watch. It sickened the bird slightly, but not noticeably. "I'm not going to ask how you are, cutie, but I'll listen if you wanna tell me."
Harper stares in silence for a few moments, and then sighs and goes back to pushing the bones out of his den and throwing them into the nearby trees. Afterwards, he drops down onto his stomach in front of Gabe, having cleaned himself up a little. He sighs and swishes his tail, and then speaks in a slow, quiet voice. "Gabe... when you aren't... hanging around here... do you ever go and talk to other birds?"
Gabriel trusts Harper entirely, in any state of his emotion. As a result, she doesn't move when his slightly blooded muzzle drops to her level and warms her chest with it's exhale. "Of course," It doesn't come out very often, but Gabriel thas a very soft voice and gentle, understand tone as she speaks. "it's what... it's just what we do. But I enjoy 'hanging around here' and talking with you more." She smiles.
Harper doesn't seem to give any indication as to what he thinks about that. He looks skyward, as if expecting to see some more birds up there now. None. Good. He looks back to Gabe. "I don't really talk to other foxes much," he says, and for the first time in a while, he sounds rather regretful about it.
This poor fox... Sionn, Inali, Gabriel is unsure of any others. Gabriel isn't sure what to say about Harper's regret. She can only offer herself for company, but she knows this isn't completely adequate. "Well... Do you want to?"
Harper pages, "Harper shakes his head. "No," he says simply. "What's the point? None of them ever want to be friends, anyway. Not that I *need* friends." He gets up and paces a little back and forth, pawing nervously at the ground. "Gabe, do you... do you want... do you want to know why I don't... *like* other foxes?" he asks cautiously. "I mean it's... it's not like I'm crazy or something. I just... I don't like them."" to you.
"I know you're not crazy, baby!" Gabriel doesn't mind or think much of Harper's pacing. She understands his position, though he doesn't understand why he doesn't like other foxes, as he says. "You just don't always relate to their playful manner... right? I love you just as you are, cutie~" She does attempt to lighten the mood slightly to help the fox relax.
Harper nods slowly. "Yeah, yeah," he says, not sounding very reassured, but he does manage to smile, if only a tiny bit. "I... I'm not very playful, no," he says. But he sounds like he wants to explain himself, to somebody at least. And Gabe is the only one around. "Neither are they, as you can see. I just... I haven't had good experiences with other creatures," he finishes quickly. "I know a lot of them out there *don't* appreciate what you are. Just take it for granted. I haven't met any creatures who have done otherwise. Out of all the dens to pick, she picked mine!" he says loudly, pacing quicker. "And all this time she had someone else to go run home to. But *I* had a place to hide. I guess I should be happy I could provide, but... huh. Now everyone's gone. 'Cept you, of course." He looks to Gabe with a surprising amount of vulnerability. He has slowly gotten used to her just *being* there. "You aren't going anywhere, are you?"
Slowly shakes her head, but is getting more and more uneasy from Harper's pacing. "Harper, even if I didn't have a place to stay in winter I wouldn't go anywhere without you." She smiles and fans both of her pretty wings out. Why? Who knows, it's a bird thing. Gabe can only comprehend bits of what her foxy companion is trying to convey. "Just because you haven't had good experiences doesn't mean you can't go out there and go have some now, right? If one place doesn't suit you, spread your wings and go somewhere else!" Her enthusiasm is quite imposing. "Let's go on an adventure or something!"
Now it's Harper's turn to be a little confused. He stops and turns back to the bird, blinking slowly. Have more experiences? That's what keeps getting him in trouble in the first place! But... well. It was sure to get boring here. Perhaps, if they didn't go too far, just explored some of the flooded areas... and came back before Inali could steal the place again, or whoever fancied it. "Adventure," he repeats. "Hmm... well... if you want one of those, you need a direction first. What do you suggest?"
Gabriel shrugs her wings, losing a bit of her earlier spark. "The flooded river is kinda neat. It's so fast now... It might be dangerous for you. And sorta far, if you don't want to leave our tree." Now that others aren't listening, she refers to the tree and the home as 'our' and 'us' rather than 'mine' or 'I'. Gabe honestly doesn't have much of an idea to go off of other than that. "I just want to see you happy, cutie, we can stay right here if you want." The way she says it is almost a plea. Maybe she is a bit more stressed than she allows herself to appear.
Harper nods slowly, wondering what would be a good idea and what wouldn't be. Does he want to leave? Not really. It's their home. But if they don't leave, the others might come back and bother him again. And they might take their home while they're away. Still... "I suppose..." He takes a deep breath. "I suppose a little walk would be nice. Just to see what happens."
Gabriel sings a quick tune to express happiness. "Just to see what happens." She confirms. Of course she doesn't mean now, she means soon, eventually, within a few days. "It'll help clear your head, then we'll decide what we want to do from there, cutie~" Gabriel is clearly pleased by this, and sincerely hopes Harper will be to. "I want to ask you now... How are you doing?" The question that means a lot, minutes ago she said she wasn't going to ask, but here she is asking. The mood has changed, perhaps Harper feels the same way.
Perhaps the general atmosphere is different, but he doesn't feel much more different. He is pleased that eventually they'll be off and away, with their thoughts on better things. But for now, well... she did ask. "Not very well." He sighs and watches the place Inali left through. "But I'll get over it. I guess I just have myself to blame."